Fuchs recently visited the OSUCCC – James to accept the 24th annual Herbert and Maxine Block Memorial Lectureship Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer and to present the annual Block Lecture. She is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at the Rockefeller University in New York City.
An overflow crowd of more than 300 OSUCCC – James researchers, clinicians, medical school students and donors attended the event.
“[Fuchs] is one of the top internationally recognized researchers in how skin stem cells work,” says Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS, director of the OSUCCC. “She’s interested in how they respond to physiologic stress and how this can lead to diseases and cancer, and in particular squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer of the skin. She’s mentored hundreds of young scientists, and her lecture was a continuation of that type of collaboration and sharing of information.”
Translational research
“Our goal with the lectureship is to bring in the best and brightest to spend a couple of days with our doctors, medical students and the leadership,” Jeff Block says. “If you look at our list of recipients, it's the who's who in their respective fields.”
“The lectureship has become so meaningful to us,” adds Julie Block Glassman. “The beauty of it is the collaborative effort between our doctors and researchers and our students and the people we bring in from these other wonderful cancer centers, and how we then all join together in the same fight.”
Stem cells and cancer
The title of Fuchs’ talk was “Skin Stem Cells: In Silence, Stress and Cancer.”
She explained the work of her lab, which focuses on understanding skin stem cells and the overall process of tissue dynamics in normal skin development, homeostasis (stability and balance within a cell) and wound repair. This work builds a foundation for understanding how these processes can go awry as people age, as well as in genetic skin diseases. Fuchs also explained how, in many patients, slow-growing cancerous stem cells are able to develop a resistance to chemo- and immunotherapies that eventually results in relapse.
The road to success
Fuchs says the Block Lectureship provides a two-way street for collaboration. “These types of opportunities, where I’ve visited and talked to different people as I have here at The James, really help start collaborations,” says Fuchs, adding that two of the graduate students in her lab are Ohio State alumni. Because her work is lab-based, she is interested in building bridges with clinicians in major comprehensive cancer hospitals such as the OSUCCC – James.
“The [OSUCCC – James] has made tremendous strides in the last 10 years, and people are taking notice,” Fuchs says. “They recognize the contributions that have been made by the cancer center. In my view, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and I look forward to what happens in the next 10 years.”
About the Award
Herbert Block passed away from colon cancer in 1981, and soon after, his family — including his wife, Maxine, who has since passed away from cancer — and their children, Jeri, Jeff, Jay, Janis and Julie Block Glassman, created the Block Memorial Tournament. The annual golf event has raised more than $6 million, funding important research at the OSUCCC – James. The Block Lectureship series began in 1992 as a way to bring leaders of the cancer community, such as Fuchs, to the OSUCCC – James to share their ideas and research, and to inspire collaboration.
As part of the Block Lectureship, recipients receive a $50,000 award for continued research. The lectureship now also includes a mentee program in which a young, promising OSUCCC – James researcher receives a $25,000 research grant, as well as the opportunity to work with the lectureship awardee. This year’s recipient is Maria Mihaylova, PhD, whose research focuses on understanding the effects of diet and aging on cellular metabolism.